I&N Store–The Back to Work edition. You know what that means: the list may be long, but time is short. To it.

Dead Hand #6 (Image): I&N Demand In #5, Kyle Higgins, Stephen Mooney, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles ratchet up the tension by framing a highly-anticipated and well-crafted backstory with, despite the fanciful stakes, uncomfortably real family conflict. See: the stubbornly curious Harriet has been hooked up with the sitch regarding Roger, which seems reasonable–right?–especially as Renae and Carter sense the increasingly-urgent need for a contingency plan, which goes to shit–should’ve seen it coming–with a semi-automatic surprise ending. Reflection: Should. Expect. Surprises. Bookkeeping: there have been some shocking moments so far in Dead Hand. But those moments–they’re far from dead hands themselves; if anything, they’re living feet kicking me to the comic store to get my eager hands on the next issue.

Leviathan #2 (Image)

Paper Girls #24 (Image)

Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses #38 (Image): I&N Demand What. A. Trip! In #37, David Lapham revs-up a racing narrative that reflects Beth and Orson’s sex-drugs-and rock-n-roll road trip stumble like a shattered rear-view mirror. “This is fucking gold,” indeed. But as we all know from Frost–and as evidenced by the final splash crash page–“Nothing gold can stay.” Oh, I’m on pins and cactus needles waiting to crack open this one!

Unnatural #4 (Image)

Batman #54 (DC): I&N Demand After the spectacularly-presented spiritual crisis of the finale of “Cold Days,” Tom King and guest artist Matt Wagner–of the magical Mage (God, those beautiful green bubbles drew a bubbly boy to his LCS–the original Amazing Comics–and to the rack in the back way back in the day to discover the hero, who’s still swinging, there’s no denying!)–give us something to believe in.